Members of the JKHA/RKYHS administration and faculty participated in the informative and enlightening Prizmah Jewish Day School Conference in Chicago last week. The conference gathered together educational and communal professional and lay leaders from Jewish day schools and federations nationwide and from around the world.
The first conference run by the newly formed Prizmah was a unique opportunity for the school to collaborate, learn from and learn with other professionals. The JKHA/RKYHS representatives were among the more than 1,000 heads of school, principals, teachers, administrators and lay leaders that gathered for the three day conference.
The conference featured a vast array of high quality sessions and expert speakers which included three-hour “intensives,” a selection of concurrent 80-minute programs, 45-minute programs, and an “innovation playground” that showcased the most cutting-edge experiences to help participants observe, experience and explore what’s next in education and technology. In addition to the program itself, the conference allowed for the opportunity to convene like-minded professionals who could connect and get acquainted in an informal setting.
“Engaging in issues and discussing challenges from multiple perspectives, informed by the experience and wisdom of experts and peers, created rich and thoughtful learning opportunities,” commented JKHA/RKYHS Head of School and Klatt Family Rosh HaYeshiva Rabbi Eliezer Rubin.
“It was extremely validating and illuminating to be able to hear from leading educational experts and to network with colleagues all working towards a unified goal,” commented Debbie Finkelstein, JKHA principal. “I look forward to employing the thinking and teachings we gleaned at the conference back in our classrooms.”
Prizmah is the result of a merger over the last two years of five national Jewish day school organizations—PARDES, PEJE, Schechter, RAVSAK and the Yeshiva University School Partnership. This new organization describes itself as one that “draws on past achievements as well as the diversity of ideas and practices, but is united in the common goal of strengthening day schools and the day school field to build a brilliant Jewish future.”
“What was most exciting was the singular feeling that all of us are on the ark together. And that as a group of Jewish educators and lay leaders we will together identify, investigate and provide solutions to the issues facing Jewish day schools,” added Brad Klatt, founding board member of Prizmah, past president of JKHA, and longtime board member of JKHA/RKYHS. “The merger of the five legacy organizations is complete and Jewish day schools have one leadership focused together on our future. An incredible achievement in just seven short months since the merger!”
The Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ presented a session on the successful collaboration of the four day schools in the Greater MetroWest community, of which JKHA/RKYHS is a part. The session focused on teaching excellence and innovative affordability programs for Jewish day schools.
“In addition to what we gained as individual professionals throughout the conference, it was validating to be part of a pioneer community and have our programs highlighted. Exposing the success of these programs to a larger audience exemplified the power and impact of a community coming together to promote both excellence in education and affordability,” remarked Sandra Blank, JKHA/RKYHS director of admissions and community relations. “It was also rewarding to meet as a cohort of professionals and lay leaders at a private reception hosted by the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest for its partner day schools, where we collaborated and discussed how we would be implementing all that we learned back at our individual schools and as a community.”
